WASHINGTON, DC- Following is the full text of Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) Republican Address to the Nation, as prepared for delivery:

Good evening. I’m Marco Rubio. I’m blessed to represent Florida in the United States Senate. Let me begin by congratulating President Obama on the start of his second term. Tonight, I have the honor of responding to his State of the Union address on behalf of my fellow Republicans. And I am especially honored to be addressing our brave men and women serving in the armed forces and in diplomatic posts around the world. You may be thousands of miles away, but you are always in our prayers.

The State of the Union address is always a reminder of how unique America is. For much of human history, most people were trapped in stagnant societies, where a tiny minority always stayed on top, and no one else even had a chance.

But America is exceptional because we believe that every life, at every stage, is precious, and that everyone everywhere has a God-given right to go as far as their talents and hard work will take them.

Like most Americans, for me this ideal is personal. My parents immigrated here in pursuit of the opportunity to improve their life and give their children the chance at an even better one. They made it to the middle class, my dad working as a bartender and my mother as a cashier and a maid. I didn’t inherit any money from them. But I inherited something far better – the real opportunity to accomplish my dreams.

This opportunity – to make it to the middle class or beyond no matter where you start out in life – it isn’t bestowed on us from Washington. It comes from a vibrant free economy where people can risk their own money to open a business. And when they succeed, they hire more people, who in turn invest or spend the money they make, helping others start a business and create jobs.

Presidents in both parties – from John F. Kennedy to Ronald Reagan – have known that our free enterprise economy is the source of our middle class prosperity.

But President Obama? He believes it’s the cause of our problems. That the economic downturn happened because our government didn’t tax enough, spend enough and control enough. And, therefore, as you heard tonight, his solution to virtually every problem we face is for Washington to tax more, borrow more and spend more.

This idea – that our problems were caused by a government that was too small – it’s just not true. In fact, a major cause of our recent downturn was a housing crisis created by reckless government policies.

And the idea that more taxes and more government spending is the best way to help hardworking middle class taxpayers – that’s an old idea that’s failed every time it’s been tried.

More government isn’t going to help you get ahead. It’s going to hold you back.

More government isn’t going to create more opportunities. It’s going to limit them.

And more government isn’t going to inspire new ideas, new businesses and new private sector jobs. It’s going to create uncertainty.

Because more government breeds complicated rules and laws that a small business can’t afford to follow.

Because more government raises taxes on employers who then pass the costs on to their employees through fewer hours, lower pay and even layoffs.

And because many government programs that claim to help the middle class, often end up hurting them instead.

For example, Obamacare was supposed to help middle class Americans afford health insurance. But now, some people are losing the health insurance they were happy with. And because Obamacare created expensive requirements for companies with more than 50 employees, now many of these businesses aren’t hiring. Not only that; they’re being forced to lay people off and switch from full-time employees to part-time workers.

Now does this mean there’s no role for government? Of course not. It plays a crucial part in keeping us safe, enforcing rules, and providing some security against the risks of modern life. But government’s role is wisely limited by the Constitution. And it can’t play its essential role when it ignores those limits.

There are valid reasons to be concerned about the President’s plan to grow our government. But any time anyone opposes the President’s agenda, he and his allies usually respond by falsely attacking their motives.

When we point out that no matter how many job-killing laws we pass, our government can’t control the weather – he accuses us of wanting dirty water and dirty air.

When we suggest we strengthen our safety net programs by giving states more flexibility to manage them – he accuses us of wanting to leave the elderly and disabled to fend for themselves.

And tonight, he even criticized us for refusing to raise taxes to delay military cuts – cuts that were his idea in the first place.

But his favorite attack of all is that those who don’t agree with him – they only care about rich people.

Mr. President, I still live in the same working class neighborhood I grew up in. My neighbors aren’t millionaires. They’re retirees who depend on Social Security and Medicare. They’re workers who have to get up early tomorrow morning and go to work to pay the bills. They’re immigrants, who came here because they were stuck in poverty in countries where the government dominated the economy.

The tax increases and the deficit spending you propose will hurt middle class families. It will cost them their raises. It will cost them their benefits. It may even cost some of them their jobs.

And it will hurt seniors because it does nothing to save Medicare and Social Security.

So Mr. President, I don’t oppose your plans because I want to protect the rich. I oppose your plans because I want to protect my neighbors.

Hard-working middle class Americans who don’t need us to come up with a plan to grow the government. They want a plan to grow the middle class.

Economic growth is the best way to help the middle class. Unfortunately, our economy actually shrank during the last three months of 2012.

But if we can get the economy to grow at just 4 percent a year, it would create millions of middle class jobs. And it could reduce our deficits by almost $4 trillion dollars over the next decade.

Tax increases can’t do this. Raising taxes won’t create private sector jobs. And there’s no realistic tax increase that could lower our deficits by almost $4 trillion. That’s why I hope the President will abandon his obsession with raising taxes and instead work with us to achieve real growth in our economy.

One of the best ways to encourage growth is through our energy industry. Of course solar and wind energy should be a part of our energy portfolio. But God also blessed America with abundant coal, oil and natural gas. Instead of wasting more taxpayer money on so-called “clean energy” companies like Solyndra, let’s open up more federal lands for safe and responsible exploration. And let’s reform our energy regulations so that they’re reasonable and based on common sense. If we can grow our energy industry, it will make us energy independent, it will create middle class jobs and it will help bring manufacturing back from places like China.

Simplifying our tax code will also help the middle class, because it will make it easier for small businesses to hire and grow.

And we agree with the President that we should lower our corporate tax rate, which is one of the highest in the world, so that companies will start bringing their money and their jobs back here from overseas.

We can also help our economy grow if we have a legal immigration system that allows us to attract and assimilate the world’s best and brightest. We need a responsible, permanent solution to the problem of those who are here illegally. But first, we must follow through on the broken promises of the past to secure our borders and enforce our laws.

Helping the middle class grow will also require an education system that gives people the skills today’s jobs entail and the knowledge that tomorrow’s world will require.

We need to incentivize local school districts to offer more advanced placement courses and more vocational and career training.

We need to give all parents, especially the parents of children with special needs, the opportunity to send their children to the school of their choice.

And because tuition costs have grown so fast, we need to change the way we pay for higher education.

I believe in federal financial aid. I couldn’t have gone to college without it. But it’s not just about spending more money on these programs; it’s also about strengthening and modernizing them.

A 21st century workforce should not be forced to accept 20th century education solutions. Today’s students aren’t only 18 year olds. They’re returning veterans. They’re single parents who decide to get the education they need to earn a decent wage. And they’re workers who have lost jobs that are never coming back and need to be retrained.

We need student aid that does not discriminate against programs that non-traditional students rely on – like online courses, or degree programs that give you credit for work experience.

When I finished school, I owed over 100,000 dollars in student loans, a debt I paid off just a few months ago. Today, many graduates face massive student debt. We must give students more information on the costs and benefits of the student loans they’re taking out.

All these measures are key to helping the economy grow. But we won’t be able to sustain a vibrant middle class unless we solve our debt problem.

Every dollar our government borrows is money that isn’t being invested to create jobs. And the uncertainty created by the debt is one reason why many businesses aren’t hiring.

The President loves to blame the debt on President Bush. But President Obama created more debt in four years than his predecessor did in eight.

The real cause of our debt is that our government has been spending 1 trillion dollars more than it takes in every year. That’s why we need a balanced budget amendment.

The biggest obstacles to balancing the budget are programs where spending is already locked in. One of these programs, Medicare, is especially important to me. It provided my father the care he needed to battle cancer and ultimately die with dignity. And it pays for the care my mother receives now.

I would never support any changes to Medicare that would hurt seniors like my mother. But anyone who is in favor of leaving Medicare exactly the way it is right now, is in favor of bankrupting it.

Republicans have offered a detailed and credible plan that helps save Medicare without hurting today’s retirees. Instead of playing politics with Medicare, when is the President going to offer his plan to save it? Tonight would have been a good time for him to do it.

Of course, we face other challenges as well. We were all heart broken by the recent tragedy in Connecticut. We must effectively deal with the rise of violence in our country. But unconstitutionally undermining the 2nd Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans is not the way to do it.

On foreign policy, America continues to be indispensable to the goal of global liberty, prosperity and safeguarding human rights. The world is a better place when America is the strongest nation on earth. But we can’t remain powerful if we don’t have an economy that can afford it.

In the short time I’ve been here in Washington, nothing has frustrated me more than false choices like the ones the President laid out tonight.

The choice isn’t just between big government or big business. What we need is an accountable, efficient and effective government that allows small and new businesses to create middle class jobs.

We don’t have to raise taxes to avoid the President’s devastating cuts to our military. Republicans have passed a plan that replaces these cuts with responsible spending reforms.

In order to balance our budget, the choice doesn’t have to be either higher taxes or dramatic benefit cuts for those in need. Instead we should grow our economy so that we create new taxpayers, not new taxes, and so our government can afford to help those who truly cannot help themselves.

And the truth is every problem can’t be solved by government. Many are caused by the moral breakdown in our society. And the answers to those challenges lie primarily in our families and our faiths, not our politicians.

Despite our differences, I know that both Republicans and Democrats love America. I pray we can come together to solve our problems, because the choices before us could not be more important.

If we can get our economy healthy again, our children will be the most prosperous Americans ever.

And if we do not, we will forever be known as the generation responsible for America’s decline.

At a time when one showdown after another ends in short-term deals that do little or nothing about our real problems, some are starting to believe that our government leaders just can’t or won’t make the right choices anymore.

But our strength has never come from the White House or the Capitol. It’s always come from our people. A people united by the American idea that, if you have a dream and you are willing to work hard, nothing should be impossible.

Americans have always celebrated and been inspired by those who succeed. But it’s the dreams of those who are still trying to make it that sets our nation apart.

Tonight, all across this land, parents will hold their newborn children in their arms for the first time. For many of these parents, life has not gone the way they had planned.

Maybe they were born into circumstances they’ve found difficult to escape. Maybe they’ve made some mistakes along the way. Maybe they’re young mothers, all alone, the father of their child long gone.

But tonight, when they look into the eyes of their child for the first time, their lives will change forever. Because in those eyes, they will see what my parents saw in me, and what your parents saw in you. They will see all the hopes and dreams they once had for themselves.

This dream – of a better life for their children – it’s the hope of parents everywhere. Politicians here and throughout the world have long promised that more government can make those dreams come true.

But we Americans have always known better. From our earliest days, we embraced economic liberty instead. And because we did, America remains one of the few places on earth where dreams like these even have a chance.

Each time our nation has faced great challenges, what has kept us together was our shared hope for a better life.

Now, let that hope bring us together again. To solve the challenges of our time and write the next chapter in the amazing story of the greatest nation man has ever known.

Thank you for listening. May God bless all of you. May God bless our President. And may God continue to bless the United States of America.

Presidents in both parties – from John F. Kennedy to Ronald Reagan – have known that our free enterprise economy is the source of our middle class prosperity.

But President Obama? He believes it’s the cause of our problems

The problem I have with GOPers is that they have to make shit up about what the president believes in.

Sooner or later they're going to have to move on. The problem isn't our free enterprise economy - the problem is when it is hijacked with too big to fail entities that have so much economic power that they can destroy it for everyone else. That's not 'free enterprise' - that is monopolization of entire economic sectors.

"Of course solar and wind energy should be a part of our energy portfolio. But God also blessed America with abundant coal, oil and natural gas. Instead of wasting more taxpayer money on so-called “clean energy” companies like Solyndra, let’s open up more federal lands for safe and responsible exploration."

Yes, let's drain the last ounce of piss out of the Earth and ensure that we're absolutely screwed when the energy source that we've been 'blessed' with totally runs out instead of finding an alternative.

What does climate change have to do with anything? (The climate has been changing for thousands of years and will continue forever) And violence against women? I am a woman and I don't understand? As I look at the comments I realize people just don't understand what is really going on here......We have a president that hates the American way, he obviously wants the government to run our lives...as they must know best how to run a business...lets see the USPostal Service is bankrupt (great business venture there), every other government venture has been a debackle....You see if there is no limit to the money coming in and it is not there own personal investments they just spend with no responsibility.(regardless of party affiliations, although republicans spend less and give tax breaks to those who create jobs)..... If you have ever owned your own business you will know how difficult the government makes it and looks like things will get better with big brother putting his nose in our business........Good Job Rubio, drink that water!!!

So. . .republicans want to see the budget balanced, the debt going down, and the economy growing. Like we had the last time there was a democrat in office. The problems the country is experiencing now is on account of eight years of Bush in office. We don't need a president to "give us stuff." We need one to roll back the entitlements republicans give to their business associates.

Your
transcript forgot to include the giant gulp when he swigged desperately
from that bottle. Governor Kenneth the Page suddenly seems like a
master showman in comparison to this chucklehead. And Rubio's supposedly
the GOP's great new hope? lol

You do not know what you are talking about!! Every time you Liberals are asked a direct question, you cannot answer it. My question to you is what has President Obama done for you in the last four years????

@cherokeetribewoman What does climate have to do with anything? I don't know about you but I like not getting hit with freak storms every couple of months. Your comment describes in a nutshell the shortsightedness and me first attitude of the typical supporter of the Republican party.

danceswithrobots: still blaming Bush??? Amazing!!! When is Obama going to take responsibilty for his decisions???Obama wants the American Taxpayer to foot the bill for all of the lazy welfare recipients in our country. I realize that all of them are not lazy, but Obama did make it much easier to get Welfare when he did away with the Welfare Reform Act that Clinton and the Congress agreed to. May God have mercy on our country.

@Manhattan123 OMG!!!! The Senator was thirsty!!!!! Are you really going to use thirst quenching as a determining factor for Presidential qualifications??????? Is your thumbnail pic a bottle of whiskey???? hmmmmmmm go figure!

@Manhattan123 omg he drank from a water bottle? Damn he has no shot of being president now.... I mean Obama has never stuttered without his teleprompter before... or said that he has been to 58 states...

@eaglelee Kept us out of another Great Depression, saved the American auto industry and pulled us out of Iraq, just for starters. Here's a straight question for you: what good have House Republicans done for the American economy since you knuckleheads gave them control of half of Congress in 2010?

mantisdragon91: obviously you believe that man can undermine the cycles of the earth. You are right-we may effect the weather in a billion years, but I am not concern about then, I am concerned about our country surviving Obama now!!!!

You erroneously imply that the 8 years of GOP rule in the Oval Office and Congress is so "remote" than learned people cannot attribute, say, the record fiscal shortfall in the here and now due to the Bush tax cuts or, by way of example, that the GOP policy of "outsourcing" did not cause the increase in welfare dependency. So, facts are facts...feel free to like your Fox News fiction.

@eaglelee It took Bush eight year to put the country where it is now and you people think Obama can change it in 4 years with his hands tried together. This county was in a hot mess when Bush left. If you put your financial in a hot mess and try to clean it up in four year you will have some problems.

@eaglelee Bush had eight years to ruin it--Which he did with his unnecessary wars which went directly into the countries debt. Anything Obama has done the republican congress has blocked on every turn. As for the changes to the Welfare Reform act, he gave the states exactly what they've been asking for--more control over it. Enough control to make welfare more difficult for their citizens to get if that's what they what they choose to do.

There is plenty that I don't like Obama. (Don't get me started on illegal incursions into our private affairs and this administrations tendency to go after whistleblowers.) But put the blame where it's due--The crash started BEFORE Obama came into office and the economy is finally starting to crawl out of that mess. There was ONE president who took us from a balanced and shrinking budget, peace and prosperity and everything else the republicans claim to want. If the republican congress really wants to improve things, how about they do their jobs and actually let bills get to a vote instead of having a sit down strike every time they see one they don't like.

@eaglelee"Obama wants the American Taxpayer to foot the bill for all of the lazy
welfare recipients in our country. I realize that all of them are not
lazy, but Obama did make it much easier to get Welfare when he did away
with the Welfare Reform Act that Clinton and the Congress agreed to. May
God have mercy on our country."

Ridiculous. That is simply another right-wing lie that you're trotting out in hopes of confusing your fellow rubes. Try this instead from the Washington Post instead:

Perhaps if you stepped outside of your news bubble, you would realize that Obama made the changes to the act at the behest of several republican governors, because they wanted more flexibility to try new things than the law previously allowed.

@MementoMori@RobynAliciaHoltZclaw I believe creating jobs for the people in our country, relying on our own local resources responsibly, finding a more efficient manner to provide education, and not raising taxes & increasing the national debt far out weighs Climate change.

Gun control.... yep that's productive.... take time in congress to go back and forth about our right to bear arms. You know the bad guy is going to do it no matter what, so I find this subject to be non sense.

Violence against women.... sounds a little one sided! If I were a man, I might take offense to that topic. Women need to be more vigilant in the selection of the men they choose. And for those who have a problem with violence, your local law enforcement along with many non profit organizations are already there to help serve the victim. Also if Obama didn't spend so much damn money on the unnecessary items on his agenda, then there possibly could be more for the non-profit agencies and local governments to provide even more resources..... NEXT....>

@RobynAliciaHoltZclaw Don't be sad and bitter just because your party's rising star crashed and burned like the lightweight he is. Aww, that's ok, maybe Michele Bachmann will run again in 2016. You yokel.

@C-cola Hey clownboy, Obama spoke for an hour without having to lunge for water like a meth addict. But, hey, keep beating the Teleprompter/58 state line, those worked so well for you during the election didn't they lol

@shepherdwong@YanovskiyMoshe "routine crisis"...now thats funny. Nice link btw. I also found it peculiar that Rubio wants to quit funding clean/renewable energy research and start sucking all the oil out of the ground. To me it seems pretty clear which strategy will be better in the long run... economically and environmentally.

@shepherdwong@eaglelee He actually killed ability of autoindustry to compete for a Long, very Long time, he converted quite routine crisi into really big depression. To take moneey from efficient businesses to reward inefficient businessess and governmental officials is way to cure Economy? Are you seriously...?

Even your left wingers are starting to complain about Obama's ignoring of the Constitution. They are also starting to distance themselves from Obama's policies because of the up-coming mid-term elections. What's up with that??? Something must be worrisome to them (By the way, I heard that report from NBC Evening News)

Not only did Obama take on Bush's sorry record he has made it worse. Please tell me what Obama has accomplished in his years of being the President, other than to ignore the Constitution, appoint numerous Czars and increase the Federal Government by leaps and bounds. Now he is proposing more government spending of money we do not have. Where does it end?

I do not know where you are getting your info, but I read everyday where Harry Reid blocks Republican solutions from being voted on. Obama had 2 years of complete control and did not even get a budget passed by his own majority. What is up wth that???

A lot of those "down on their luck" people are people which takes no personal responsibility for their own mistakes in life. Such as having babies outside of marriage, not taking jobs because they don't pay enough, or receiving disability checks from the government, when they are able to work. I do not have any problem with helping those who cannot help their self, but with those that are just to sorry to help their selves.

@eaglelee Try facts instead. What I said, and what the article said are true. You have provided no substantiation for your ridiculous point of view. Feel free to demonstrate both how "Obama wants the American taxpayer to foot the bill for all of the lazy welfare recipients" and how "Obama did make it much easier to get welfare."

FYI, there is no actual "welfare" program. There are some programs to help those "down on their luck" though, such as WIC, SNAP, etc. and they are all paid for by tax dollars, as they always have been.

Robyn - did you know that what fuels the murder rate and gun crime in cities is the fact that cities might have gun control measures in place but other states don't. So the criminals simply go to the state with poor control, buy weapons and then ship them to the cities.

That's a fact.

By doing nothing it is helping criminals. And the solution is not to arm everyone.

As far as violence against women. You should read about what's going on in Russia, where it's common place. Where women don't really get any help from the legal system. And where women are routinely either beaten or killed. Countries without strong legislations show a increased rate of violence against women. And the swill about 'women should be more vigilant in the selection of men' defies the fact that when women finds out what their boyfriends are capable of, countries without strong legislation won't do squat about it.

So while women might be vigilant enough to try to get away from these creeps they have no legal recourse to do so. And the results are terrible.

You see the problem with 'your local law enforcement along with many non profit organizations' is that before the legal framework to do something about it very little was done and with few resources. And the result is increased violence against women.

What you're arguing for is what we had before and what didn't work. And what you can see what it leads to in countries without that type of legislation. It's a fact and it's not one sided. It's statistically proven.

Robyn: we need to get together and have a good drink of water!! You are quite refreshing and apparently a very bright and learned woman of refinement. It is unfortunate that manhattan 123 is such an idiot. He will not take the time to look at records of people before he votes, thus he voted for Obama again!!!

@RobynAliciaHoltZclaw Yes, a sorry excuse who handed your party its collective ass on election day. The game is up, the American people see the Republican party for what it is, a collection of kooks, cranks and bigots with the same tired old answers for everything. There's a reason you people have lost the popular vote in 5 of the last 6 elections. Deal with reality (of course, reality has a well-known liberal bias) your party is heading to the dustbin of history and you're just another teabagger who can't stand it. Sad and pathetic.

@Manhattan123@RobynAliciaHoltZclaw I'm not the least bit sad or bitter when it comes to the fabulous, sincere words from Sen Rubio. I am on the other hand extremely disappointed in the methods Obama has chosen for his agenda with the answer to crisis is raise taxes, borrow and build more debt! And who's the yokel now? I'm intelligent enough to know Obama is a sorry excuse for the role of President of the United States!

@Manhattan123@C-cola Tasteless comeback! Seriously, are you basing qualifications on thirst? Go crack your bottle Manhattan123..... using a bottle of whiskey as your profile thumbnail.... that must mean you are not qualified to do anything but rant like a drunken idiot!